Inking apparatus.



generally, but is nicre particularly y o emerse Aicimais'r cerros,

EDWIN n. imLInam/onnas'r enanos, New JERSEY.

l APPARATUS.

Be i"'knoWn' that I, EDWIN D. BELKNAP, a citizen of the United States 'of America, residing at East Orange, ,county-of Essex, State of New Jersey, have inventedcertan new and useful Improvements in linking Apparatus, of which the following 'is 'a specification.

My invention relates to inking'aplparatus esigned tor use with stcncilcards, or similar stencils.

"'IIGOS important novel feature ofmy invention' consists of a special form. of

fountain ink roll .which isalso'shown and. .described in my' pending. application Serial No. 836,811, sied-May e, 1914.

The particular embodiment of. myV- invention here'illustrated forms 'a simple'- and convenient device fitted for transportation and hand opera-tion inI stencil printing. In the drawings: Figure 1 is an isometrlc view of the entire apparatus. Fig. 2is a detail perspective 'view' of the novel fountain ink roll' which `niavibe used with this and other forms of apparatus, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a block of felt from which such ink fountain rolls are cut or stamped in process of manufacture.

Throughout the drawings, like reference characters indicate like arts.l

' 1, 'is a roll carrying rameprovided with a handle 2, and adapted, when inuse, to be conveniently held. b the operator in the position shown. in pression roller 3` usually Amade of rubber or faced with ru ber and 'ournaled in the lower end of frame l, can e presseddown form of stencil whichhas been placed 'over the envelop or other article on which the stenciled characte'rsarefto be printed'.

4;, is' the inl; fountainl roll which forms thev most lin iportant feature -of Ihyinvention,

and-which may be' providedwith ljournals 5, for-med by the projecting jends .cfa cylindrical shaft, adapted topass throu h the cen'tral hole *(,in the roll. This sha t ma be journaled in-'slots 6, in Aframe l, whici slots arefapproximately vertical'when the apparatus is in operative position, as shown.

in Fig. 1. "Ihesel slots 'may be" left open' at their upper tends to 4 facilitatefthe removal '.andreplacementjof roll 4. When inusev fountain rolle, rests on impression roller ig. 1, so that the ink' Bp'coict'ionfof Letters Iatent. Patented De@ 12, 1916.l Applicatiouled December 7,1915.:l vSerial No. 65,588.

3, being held by'gravity or. other means in peripheral Contact therewith.

I call the roll 4 1, un ink fountain roll`be-. cans; it -has the capacity for absorbing, holding and' subsequently readily yielding up to "impression roller 3, a large quantity of-ink, suicient to ink many thousands of stencils. without reloading with ink or re; placement by a fresh roll. This character sticof roll 4, is due toits peculiar construction, it being formed of a solid body of fine, hlghly porous and absorbent. felt, the strata or' layers of fine felt running in planes at right angles to the axis of the roll as indicated at 8, in Fig. 2. The best method of forming such a roll is to takev a sheet or block of suitable felt 9, the thickness of which is equal-to' the'dcsired length oi the roll a, and stamp or cut out of'it a,A series of cyl1nde1s,`.each of which forms -a roll of the desredcha'racter-,

1D, 10, Fig. 3A .indicate holeslet'in the bloclc'of felt .-a-ftera series@ of-rolls 4, have A8,' of thexfelt appear at thef'jedges-of the block or-sheet;

As a result' of the constructionand' method of production above described each roll 4,

1s 'of uniform and homogeneous' composi- Ation "throughout, having auniforxnexterior Acylindrical surface devoid of seams, and at which the felt layers are' presented'edgewise. The roll so formed is perfectly ada t edto absorb a large quantity of ink, hol it -in mechanical Suspension in and between thetlayers of felt, and ieldit up again evenly along the entire ength of'theroll and around lits entirecircun'iference= when rotated with light pressure incontact with a sgitable impression roller. cli-.as is shown at f' 'It' is evident that if fountain roll were n iade by curlihgasheet of felt around 'a core or shaft', or about central opening 7, the strata or layers oit-'feltbeing then arranged circumferentially about such core or central opening, the felt would be less capable of absorbing ink radially and 'soaking it into the interior portions, and -less capable, of readily. giving out radially t th'eexte'for cylindrical surface any ink which had een stored inthe interior portions of the roll. Fu rtherniorc, the' abutting ends of such a curled body of felt would loo 4-forrfi aiseam or line along one element of llo eaiefull .fnstenet the outer cylindrical surface no matter how they were cemented or otherwise together. Such meeting edges would produce a heavier line of ink across Athe surface of the impression roller 3, Whel1- ever such joint in the felt surface come in contact with the impression roller, and 'this would in turn be transferred to the surface being stenciled, producing an uneven appearance thereon. My improved fountain roll' avoids 'these diliculties. It presents an absolutely even and uniform surface to the impression roll and transfers an absolutely erven iilm ot ink thereto. ll`urtherinore the capillary pores or spaces in and between the layers forming the original felt sheet are arranged radially of the roll so 'as to freely and'e\'enly absorb a large quantity of ink, und freely and evenly give it out again to the impression roller. Also perfect rolls -tion therefrom. Capillary action keeps the surface of roll 4, always damn with ink drawn from the interior of the ioll Where it is protected from evaporation. and this is transferred by contact to the surface of impression roller El. and by it to llie stencil over which the latter is rolled. ll'hen thc supply oi' init in fountain roli 4, is finally exhausted it is lifted out of its bearings in slots (i, recharged with ink and replaced, or a il'esh fountain roll is put in position.

Apparatus embodying my invention has been in practical use for some time und I have demonstrated that n fountain roll of the character described will hold enough ink for inlting some fifty thousand stencils, and lgeep the ink moist and ready for such use duringmanymontlis;

,The great advantage of my invention, ip"

addition to its cheapness and convenience,.

lies in tho'taet that it replaces the old ink fountain and' doctor roll which constituted a general nuisance. The ink from` such fountain was easily slopped over in transportation.v and in refilling of they fountain.

vlt soon dried up' oribecame gummy,I and on account ofthe bulk 'of the fountain and for obvious other reasons (such as the necessity for al vays keeping,r it level) it could not be used on a small portable device,V of any such eliararte as is here shown. The present invention has overcome all ditiiculties und solves the* problem of the maintenance -in service of small stencil printing machines in the hands of' the great multitude of unskilled users` llaving described my invention, I cluin:

1. As an article of manufacture a. fountain roll i'or; inlcing apparatus consisting of an integral cylindrical body offfelt in which layers ot' material composing thefelt extend in planes at rightangleslto the aegis of the cylinder. l p u :2. As an article 4of manufacture azountain roll for inltingV apparatls consisting ofan integral cylindrical body of felt in which layers ofimitcrial composing the felt extend in planes atriglit angle's'to the 'uxisof the i cylindeigsaid cylinder having an axial bore ot' relatively small diameterV as com ared with the external dia-meter of the-cylinder.l

vXVitnesses': SA 'n Uni. lVnINeno,' S. P. Parson. 

